Episode 19: Guggenheim Curator Megan Fontanella: "Every Painting Tells a Story"

A Bend in the Road

You've certainly heard of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and its varied collections. What you may not know is what guides those collections. Megan Fontanella, the Guggenheim's Curator for Modern Art and Provenance, would tell you a good exhibit, and good art education, comes down to two statements: Every painting tells a story. Every object has lived a life. Join Roberta as she talks with Megan about those statements, about the history of the Gugg' and her role in bringing art to life.
Megan is a strategic leader, art historian, and curator whose research encompasses late 19th- and early 20th-century European and U.S. avant-gardes and specializes in the field of provenance research - the study of an object's ownership history, from its creation to present day. Since joining the curatorial staff at the Guggenheim in 2005, she has organized or co-organized over thirty exhibitions for the Guggenheim’s museums in Bilbao, New York, Venice, and formerly Berlin.
Things we talked about in this episode:

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Kandinsky and the “Blue Mountain”
Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Episode Credits:

• Clips featured in this episode are courtesy of the Guggenheim Museum. Our thanks to Sara Fox for providing clearances.
• A Bend in the Road is written, hosted, edited, and produced by Roberta Panjwani and created by Roberta Panjwani and Diane Sims
• Our Assistant Producer for this episode is me, Elias Rosner.
• Our Editors are Roberta Panjwani and Elias Rosner with additional edits by Melissa Egan.
• Our Technical Directors and Audio Engineers are Charles Gallo and Elias Rosner
• Original Music is written and performed by Diane Sims
• Our Digital Media producer is Elias Rosner
• Logo and Website created by Parker Gaidimas
• Special thanks to Megan Fontanella for being with us today.